New: Lack of planning for university failure risks ‘lasting blow’ to R&D. Excoriating education committee report on HE finances warns government is not prepared for university insolvencies, with worrying implications for students and academics. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...

STFC budget falling in real terms even as UKRI spending rises. New figures show pressure on cash-strapped council, as scientists warn of wide-ranging impacts from cuts. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...

I think this says a lot about the pressure STFC is under: its budget will not have risen (in cash terms) between 2023 and 2030 Inflation is obviously going keep eroding that, and more so with the Iran war (Details of STFC budget figures over the spending review have not been published before now)

Breaking: Looming physics cuts a ‘failure’, says science committee chair. Chi Onwurah says science minister and UKRI leadership must “bear responsibility” and “win back trust”. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...

Job losses at UK research-intensive universities double in two years. Exclusive: Scale of redundancies branded a “disaster”. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...

Full story, on disruptions to core funding streams raising fears for a “generation” of early career researchers, by @isaacbarbosa1.bsky.social @fionamcintyre.bsky.social www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...

Full story by @isaacbarbosa1.bsky.social and me www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...

The MRC's decision to stop funding research units is biting Four out of five units at the University of Cambridge will run out of funding by 2027, and staff at risk of redundancty are considering action, @isaacbarbosa1.bsky.social reports An insider said Cambridge is in "an awful position"

Early Jan is usually pretty slow for news (Trump notwithstanding) but RPN reporters have started 2026 with some great stories Today, @francesjones.bsky.social reports on researchers given access to UKRI funding applications to see if AI could help speed up grant review 1/

Last Friday, @isaacbarbosa1.bsky.social published an interview with Timothy Clement-Jones, in which the Lib Dem peer said that universities must be allowed to continue “moonshot” research despite policymakers’ moves to steer public R&D funding towards government priorities 4/4

🚨BREAKING🚨 REF 2029: Research culture metric overhauled (and weighting reduced). Research Excellence Framework reworked “to reduce burden”, with elements of 2021 exercise reinstated. All the headlines as the three-month pause ends. Free to read. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...

Our reporter @isaacbarbosa1.bsky.social went to the British Library and found staff at the picket line pessimistic about the recovery of library services after the 2023 cyberattack "Things just aren’t improving", said the PCS union branch chair Meanwhile, management have upped their pay offer